While more than half of college presidents have never worked outside higher education, the share of presidents whose immediate prior position was outside higher education has increased since 2006, from 13 percent to 20 percent, according to a 2011 study by the American Council on Education.

The move comes as university leaders are being forced to spend more time raising money and finding ways to increase efficiencies.

In 2003, when Robert V. Antonucci was selected to lead Fitchburg State University, his resumé was an amalgam of a traditional academic and a nouveau university leader. A decade later, Antonucci said his experience in both the public and private sectors, along with his knowledge of the state budget, has made him the right person to lead the university.

"The combination of my private and public experience before coming here made me a much better president," said Antonucci. "It really helped me as a I began to move Fitchburg State to an institution that people saw as stellar. And it worked."

Antonucci served as Massachusetts' commissioner of education in the 1990s. He later worked for a private educational company and also served as superintendent of schools in Falmouth beginning in the early 1980s.

As commissioner of education, he established a capital campaign that raised more than $12 million for state education initiatives and helped get the Education Reform Act of 1993 passed.

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"That job put me in touch with legislators, senators, reps, the Department of Education," said Antonucci. "That experience helped me tremendously when I came back because I really understood education from a state and national perspective that I could bring back to Fitchburg."

Antonucci began working in Fitchburg during one of the worst fiscal times in state history. The challenge was nothing new.

Antonucci began working in Falmouth just after voters statewide passed Proposition 2 1/2, a measure that forced him to cut programs and positions to balance the budget.

"What I learned when it came to cost cutting and budget reductions, as difficult as it was, was that I never wanted to forget the impact it had on the employee who was the focus of attention, whether it was a custodian or a professor or a faculty member," he said. "Going through a reduction in force is very traumatic to those individuals."

His experience as an educator also included serving as an adjunct faculty member at Boston University, assistant superintendent of Leominster public schools and teacher and administrator in Lunenburg's schools.

But when Antonucci was named a finalist to lead Fitchburg State, he was the only candidate who had not held a top position at a college. The 10 of 11 trustees who voted to appoint Antonucci said that although he lacked the experience in higher education the other candidates had, they felt his political knowledge and familiarity with the college and the community made him the best choice to push the university forward.

"My academic experience was different from the traditional academic experience people have," he said. "I think that was an asset to the institution. I came with an understanding of the academic world, but I also had the business world behind me. I came with both dimensions being covered."

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